A "race" against time..

The veil row stirred London last week and diverted the media attention to yet another controversy related to islam. Comments poured in from everywhere - from common people to ministers to even the religious leaders.

I wont start off a debate here again on whether niqab or veil is a religious obligation or is redundant and what is Koran's say on it. There are thousands advocating either side of the issue.

The question is whether this niqab and veil is relevant in the world of today, a world where the masks induce fear. The most immediate response to this question is, "let them wear whatever they want." but wait a minute... its against the so called non-negotiable british values.

So what should the muslims do? Well for british muslims...there is something to consider..
Take the case of the sikh community in britain...there was a time when they had to fight the same battle - to gain public recognition of their culture and traditions. and they won. The sikhs made use of legal channels and questioned the discriminatory laws. Finally the sikh community was recognized as an ethnic group and were given the special rights like wearing turbans and carrying kirpans. Today sikhs and jews in britain enjoy these rights but the other immigrants like muslims and hindus still do not come under the Race Relations act.
There is need for these immigrants to act togather but there are constant differences among them and their chances of standing togather for a particular cause doesnt seem much probable.
Add to this the fact that the muslims in the today's world are known more as terrorists than anything else and a masked person on the streets of britain doesnt enjoy the greatest of responses. Multi-culturalism as a public policy is effectively dead, to some extent by militant islam.
A long and tough road ahead..

Apart from this, there are extremist voices in the islamic world too - mainly by the so called religious leaders, who try to impose their own religious interpretations on the people - ideas which are polluted by their own personal insights and the political and social cocoon they grow in. Sadly these are the voices which are heard more often although they are clearly against the mass opinion and lead to misunderstandings towards muslims. These extremists openly express their hate towards modernization in general and the west, in particular.
The extremists, it seems, today are not against the west. They are against time.


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Racism unVEILed...

Britain this sunday was facing another racism row.
A Muslim junior teacher,Aishah Azmi, 23 at the school in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire was suspended for refusing to remove her veil in class. Phil Woolas, minister of race relations said that she should be sacked.
Ms. Aishah has defended her view by saying that pupils at Headfield Church of England Junior School had never complained about her wearing a veil. Her lawyer says "She is able to do this effectively while wearing the veil. She has demonstrated in a number of interviews that she can communicate effectively while wearing the veil."

One of the thorniest issues in the past year has been whether the state has the power to intervene in how someone dresses.Muslim women's groups have criticised this suggestion that they should stop wearing headscarves or hijabs for the fear of being isolated.

Britain is a multicultural country and the britishers have gladly mingled with the people from different cultures and countries.
Gladly, Ms. Azmi is having support from both the media and the women groups.

But considering the other perspective, doesn't it seems like she is pushing too hard?....she insists that she cannot take off the veil in front of her male colleges but she did took it off when she was being interviewed by a male governor for this post and then she suddenly took the decision to appear in niqab at the classroom.
Apart from this, I'm wondering how when she's talking to eight-year-old children - who in order to learn the language need to see her facial expressions.
Whatever the pros and cons are here, the fact remains that kids at Headfield School have a right to expect to be taught by someone they can actually understand. Children need the warmth and the comfort of smiles and friendly facial expressions. They're kids for God's sake, and when someone of age seven would be confronted by someone dressed like Ms Azmi he would think the Big Bad Bogeyman had come to get him.

What i want to insist is not that she just leave the islamic way of dressing but that she can definitely don a hijab or a shyla instead of a niqab especially in the profession she is in.

I take a minute here to explain the difference -
A hijab which looks like this is used to describe the headscarves which covers the hairs and the face can be seen.
The niqab which looks like this is a veil for the face that leaves only the area around the eyes clear.

The Islamic dress code is about more than just the hijab or niqab - it is about differentiating between the private and public spheres of one's life.
It is all about choice - you can be a fantastic, practicing Muslim without wearing a niqab. Not wearing one does not make you less of a Muslim

However, the question is not just about the case of Ms Azmi, its about the religious freedom that one should have... just without pushing thing to the extreme.

The Blair administration is also responsibe for all this mess.The Leader of the Commons, Jack Straw, initiated a debate on veil-wearing last week when he suggested the full veil over the face separated communities. His comments were also supported by the home secretary David Davis. and now Blair is also sharing the same opinion.
The ministers should understand that the the removal of the veil will only seek to cause greater divisions in society by forcing all those who want the right to freedom of expression in terms of religion, into faith schools rather than promoting integration and understanding.

At this point i would like to present here the views of a british woman on this issue which also summarises the general british viewpoint -
"We wish to express our disagreement at the comments and policy of Jack Straw towards women who wear the veil, or niqab. We believe the bedrock of communication between people is mutual respect, including respect for the choices they make in relation to their clothing and other personal matters. Women should be able to seek advice from their political representatives without facing what may easily appear as a precondition that they dress in a particular way. Inequality, racism, poverty and uneven power relations including between men and women are the real reasons for divisions in our society, not what women wear."

When the general british public has no problem in mixing up with people wearing hijabs or niqabs, why the heck do these polititions feel uncomfortable with people in veils...

Is it an inner fear of masks or just another instance of islamophobia?


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